Interview
Stewarding the Man United Brand – Ellie Norman
We are back!! Yes, we know, we’ve had a long and awesome holiday :-)! We hope your year has got off to a great start too.
We have a blockbuster episode to leap into 2024 and it’s all about someone who stewards equally blockbusting brands.
Ellie Norman runs marketing, communications and fan engagement at one of the world’s biggest sporting brands, the famed football club, Manchester United. Our minds were officially blown when Ellie told us she has to market to 1.1 billion fans around the world. That’s an incredible audience for any marketer.
It’s not just the iconic Man United sporting brand that Ellie has experience with; she’s also been Global Director for Marketing and Communications at Formula One where she helped popularise the franchise.
In fact, Ellie’s career has featured a lot of male-dominated industries and sectors as she also spent six years in marketing roles with Honda Motors in Europe. Her take on how to thrive and succeed in these environments is uplifting.
We were struck by Ellie’s refreshing and inspiring way of thinking about her work on the global stage and, as you’ll hear, she shares: . . .
- How not going to University has driven her career choices in a good way
- How Ellie makes big decisions about her career
- Why sports marketing flips the traditional marketing model on its head
- How she helped popularise the Formula 1 brand and make it less elitist
- And how she handles the Man United brand and its legion of distraught fans when the team isn’t performing on the field.
We think you’ll love this inspiring conversation with the positive and gutsy Ellie Norman.
Useful Links
Manchester United on Instagram
And if you loved this podcast, you might like our interview with Lucinda Barlow, Head of International Marketing at Uber
